Believe it or not, wood flooring is harder to keep in good condition that you think. You can use the tips below to keep them in pristine condition and undamaged for the years to come.

1. Vacuum Every Week

You heard right, you should vacuum your hardwood floor. The reason for doing this is a thin layer of dirt on your hardwood floor that can wear down your floor’s finish which can ruin them. This is why vacuuming is so important to protect your floor’s finish and overall appearance. Simply, use a brush attachment on your vacuum cleaner and run it along your hardwood floor. However, resist using rotating brushes since that it ruin the finish on your floors.

2. Protect Them From Water and Rain

Water can potentially ruin your hardwood floors by penetrating the wood and staining it forever. However, you can protect your floors from water by putting down rugs for wet shoes, closing the windows to your home if it’s rainy, putting down trays under plants, etc. You should also wipe up any liquid you see on your floors as quickly as possible. This will prevent even the most minimal damage as well.

3. Lay Down an Extra Large Doormat

Naturally, everyone that enters your home should take off their shoes, especially since you have hardwood floors. Plus, this way no water, dirt, or ice can ruin the finish on your floors. However, since some of your guests may forget, this is why it’s important to lay down an extra large doormat for the interior of your home. You should plan on buying at least a six foot mat, this way you have plenty of time, or space, to remind your guests to remove their shoes or wipe off their shoes.

4. Remove Dirt and Other Residue with a Floor Cleaner

You should keep a no-wax floor cleaner in a common place in your home so that anyone can use it to clean up small spills, dirt, and other residues. Unfortunately enough, even the smallest spills can ruin your floors for good. Keeping this type of cleaner on hand can prevent your floors from being permanently damaged and easily cleaned.

5. Be Careful with Furniture Polish and Hairspray

Both of these chemicals can damage the finish of your flooring. If you get any on your wood flooring Toronto, be sure to wipe it up quickly using a wet cloth. However, if you have a large spill of hairspray of furniture polish on your floor, you should clean it up with window cleaner that does not have ammonia in it.

6. Learn the Wax Rules

Wax is a great way to restore a hardwood floor if it already has a wax finish. You should not use wax on varnish, shellac, or polyurethane finish. It will make the floor extra slippery and can ruin any future refinishing. So, if your floor was finished with polyurethane, use a polish made specifically for polyurethane. If the floor has a different finish, purchase a general-purpose restorer. Be sure to test a small spot before you use it on your entire floor, however.

7. Put Down an Area Rug

If there is an area of your hardwood floor that sees more traffic than others, consider putting down an area rug. Frequently walking across a wood floor can wear down its finish over time. Though you may not want to cover up your nice wood flooring, a rug can protect it against wear and tear.
Look for a rug that does not have a backing. Rubber and vinyl backing can trap in humidity, which will ruin the finish and damage the wood. Take some time to locate the right rug for your space.

Wood flooring professionals keep their phones charged in the springtime because they are hard hit by clients looking to clean up the debris and damage long winters have left behind. Clients request appointments for sanding, buffing, refinishing and other concerns. But clients should know that maintenance and proper clean-up techniques are a wood floor’s best friends. Here are four ways to keep your floors looking their best.

1) Use Felt Pads

Little tricks make a difference. When you move your furniture during the holidays, or when your party guests move your furniture for you, felt protectors placed on the bottoms of furniture legs will save your floors from scratches and other wear and tear. One thing to remember is that felt pads pick up a great deal of dust and other debris. Change them out often. If not, then the build up will increase the likelihood of scratching. Professionals describe dirty felt pads as “sandpaper.”

2) Invest in Dust Mops

While it is tempting to give your floors a quick polish you might want to reconsider. Wax build-up tints floors and is very difficult to remove. Instead, give your floors a good dust with a mop equipped with a long, swivel-ready dust head, the kind covered with cotton or microfiber fabric. The soft fibers remove dust and dirt without scratching your floors’ surface. They also polish the floor, bringing it to a lustrous shine.

3) Add Throw Rugs

Of course dust mopping a wet floor isn’t the greatest idea. To prevent tracking in moisture, add throw rugs to entrance-ways or as an accent in large high-traffic areas. Felt pads to the bottom will keep the rugs in place.

4) Develop a Maintenance Schedule

Plan to dust mop your floors daily, or every other day, to prevent an accumulation of debris. Vacuum your floor each week using the bare floor setting. For particularly dirty floors, use a wood floor cleaner. Tile and vinyl cleaners, as well as water and steam, will damage your floor’s finish.

Wood flooring Toronto professionals suggest applying a maintenance coat to your floor every five years. For older floors, or floors that need a quick rehab, scuff buffing is an inexpensive alternative to complete restoration. Scuff buffing does not go down to bare wood. Instead, it removes years’ worth of accumulated film and dirt. It grinds out blemishes and provides a smooth surface upon which to apply a maintenance coat.

Still, plan on fully refinishing your floors every 10 to 15 years. When you do, remember that a variety of stains are available to you. Homeowners can choose grey brushed tones, deep mahoganies or bright pine tints. Using the the tips outlined above, your floors will maintain a healthy luster for a decade before needing a new finish.

Hardwood floors are versatile. You can stain them different colors. You can change your throw rugs, keeping your space contemporary. For minimalists, wood flooring is the perfect combination of space and warmth. Whatever your home’s style, a well-maintained wood floor provides an elegant touch.

Where once wood flooring was the standard floor in all homes, carpeting, vinyl and linoleum flooring became most popular for decades. Today, however, many modern homeowners are once again seeking the beautiful, natural look of wood flooring. But, there are a number of pros and cons to wood flooring, not to mention the wide variety of styles and types to choose from. Here is a brief overview of four types of wood flooring Toronto available and how to choose the type that is right for you.

1. Genuine hardwood

Genuine hardwood tends to be the most expensive type of flooring, but will also generally add the most value to your home. While genuine hardwood may be more delicate and high maintenance than other options, it can also always be refinished at a much lower cost then replacing the entire floor. When it comes to beauty and luxury, there is just no substitute for genuine hardwood flooring.

2. Bamboo

Bamboo has become an extremely popular option in the last several years, thanks to the sustainability of bamboo, not to mention its durability and longevity. An oak tree may take 100 years or more to mature, but an entire bamboo forest can regrow in as little as 5 years, depending on the location and climate. Since bamboo grows so rapidly, it is a highly sustainable material that offers little danger of depleting natural resources by being over farmed. Bamboo flooring comes in a wide variety of styles and options, including stains that look almost identical to genuine hardwood. There are also a wide variety of newer, modern washed-out finishes to choose from as well. Bamboo is an incredibly popular option for people that want a natural wood floor without the high price and high maintenance of hardwood.

3. Engineered hardwood

Engineered hardwood is created by fixing various strands, particles, fibres, or veneers or boards of wood together with adhesives. Like Bamboo, engineered hardwood comes in a wide variety of styles and finishes. While it will not add as much value to your home as genuine hardwood will, it will still give you the look and feel of genuine hardwood at a lower price, while still being an actual wood or natural product.

4. Cork

Cork flooring is gaining in popularity thanks to it’s sound dampening properties. While hardwood flooring is beautiful, it can also create a great deal of noise. Like bamboo, cork is also a highly sustainable resource, which means cork flooring is also rising in popularity in green homes. Most cork comes from the bark of the cork oak tree. Every nine years, the outer bark is harvested, leaving a protective layer of inner bark on which new bark can be grown. The initial harvest is cut into corks for wine bottles and the remains are ground up and formed into sheets, from which other cork products such as cork flooring or cork boards are cut.

Understanding the rich history behind the wood used in floors enriches its value and beauty. Wood floors are showpieces in themselves, and people love to show it off.

Admit it, who hasn’t marveled at the beauty of a home with a fine wood floor? It’s in our nature to love trees and make it a part of our lives and our homes. Go visit Wood flooring Toronto for some really great Wooden flooring ideas!

And we’ll give you 7 more reasons why..

1. Easy To Clean

While the lack of knowledge has made people develop the misconception that cleaning tiles or carpets is easier than wooden floors, this can’t be any less misleading. Mopping and using a non-aerosol spray can do the magic for you. Sounds easier, doesn’t it?

2. Wood is A Smart Investment

Wood usually increases the resale value of a home. Real wood floors offer beauty for a lifetime or maybe longer! Every day people continue to walk on wood floors that are as old as our nation. Carpet needs to be replaced 3 to 6 times before most solid wood floors ever need repair. Thus, wood floors cost less long term and add value to your home.

3. Wood Flooring Is More Hygienic

It is a known fact for ages that wooden floors are more hygienic. This is the reason why our ancestors preferred wooden houses even after the invention of concrete. The carpets can become a home to many unnecessary parasites which can compromise health standards. This is why simple wood flooring arrangements are preferred over carpets.

4. Saves You From Unpleasant Odors

The carpets are the culprits of trapping unpleasant odors from pets and common eatables. Wood flooring indeed saves you from all that unpleasant smell!

5. Insulation and Heating

6. Easy On The Pocket

Contrary to normal belief, wood flooring arrangements are a lot easier to maintain when it comes to replenishing the looks of it. If the wear and tear has made your flooring dull in appearance, simpler methods such as a sand and seal will do the charm. Big time money saver indeed!

7. And Last But Not The Least, They Look So BEAUTIFUL!

Reclaimed wood flooring is in high demand right now. It looks spectacular with a variety of current interior design styles including urban industrial style, contemporary style, lodge style, country style, mountain modern style and mid-century modern style. Perhaps you’re interested in learning more about this type of flooring. Let’s discuss the pros and cons of reclaimed wood floors.

Pro: Reclaimed Wood Flooring Has a Stylish Distressed Look

There are people paying serious money to achieve hand-scraped textures on their wood flooring Toronto. This is a top trend right now. Reclaimed wood flooring gives you the same distressed effect without any additional effort.

Con: Calculating the Amount of Flooring You Need Is Tricky

When you re-use a floor that was already installed in another building, it’s possible that you may end up with some boards that are damaged. Some boards may even be totally unusable. Some are likely to be bowed, and some may be missing the tongue or the groove needed for installation. It’s ideal to buy 5-10 percent more reclaimed flooring than you estimate you would need otherwise in order to be sure you have enough wood to work with if you encounter these problems.

If you do run short of undamaged wood, remember that you can use damaged boards in closets, under appliances and in areas of the floor that will be hidden under the furniture.

Con: Reclaimed Wood Flooring Is Labor Intensive

You’ll typically have to do quite a bit of work to remove the old finish from the surface of the wood on reclaimed flooring. It’s about as much work as refinishing any hardwood floor would be.

Pro: You Can Refinish the Flooring Any Way You Want To

Like any other type of solid hardwood flooring, you can finish it in whichever combination of colors and techniques appeals to you. Wax it, oil it, stain it, paint it or give it a clear coat. If you choose wrong, you can always refinish it again.

Pricing Varies for Reclaimed Wood Flooring

The price for reclaimed flooring can be either a pro or a con depending on the specifics of the deal. In some neighborhoods, demand far exceeds the meager available supply of reclaimed flooring. Prices in those areas tend to be higher than you would expect.

On the other hand, if you are persistent in pursuing a good deal on reclaimed flooring, you might be able to find an incredible bargain in your local area. Flooring from condemned buildings is one good source. If there are any schools being torn down in your neighborhood, it’s worth asking staff if they’re willing to sell the gymnasium floor — which is likely to be constructed of solid maple.

These are some of the pros and cons of reclaimed wood flooring. If you’re thinking of laying new flooring, we hope this info is helpful to you in determining whether a reclaimed floor is an appropriate choice for your project.

Having wood flooring in your home is a luxury. More than other types of flooring, wood looks classy and elegant, and it can also last a long time. But in order to make your wood flooring last as long as possible, you need to take care of it. Scratches on your wood floors may cause it to look older than it actually is. Fortunately, there are ways to fix just about any type of scratch that may be on your wood floors.

1. Check out the damage.

Different types of scratches will require different care, so the first thing that you should do is assess what type of damage your floors have.

2. Light scratches can be fixed with fine steel wool.

Steel wool can fix light scratches on your wood floors. Make sure that you run the steel wool along the same direction as the grain of the wood. Furthermore, make sure that it’s a fine steel wool instead of a rough steel wool. This will help you ensure that you do not further damage your wood floors.

3. Deeper scratches will require a lightweight sandpaper.

Lightweight sandpaper can help you get rid of thicker and deeper scratches on your wood flooring Toronto. Again, make sure to go along the grain of your wood flooring with the sandpaper, and make sure that it’s a fine grain sandpaper.

4. Use mineral spirits on the area.

Once you’re done fixing the scratches with fine steel wool or lightweight sandpaper, you should finish the area. Do this with mineral spirits. Mineral spirits can be purchased at your local hardware store or home goods store.

5. Use wood filler to fill in the scratch areas.

After using mineral spirits on the area and letting the mineral spirits dry, you’ll need to fill in the scratches with pre-mixed would filler. For this project, you will need a plastic putty knife as well. Be careful with the putty knife so that you do not create new scratches as you fill in the old scratches.

6. Let the filler dry and sand it down.

Once you fill in the scratches with wood filler, you need to let the wood filler dry completely. Once this is done, you can go back with your lightweight sandpaper and sand the excess wood filler off of your wood floors. Wipe up any of the dust that remains.

7. Seal things up.

Your last step will be to use polyurethane or varnish on the area so that the sanded area matches your entire wood floor.

In some cases, the scratches on your wood flooring Toronto won’t be able to be fixed, and in this case, if you want to make your floors look better, you’ll need to replace those floorboards or replace your wood flooring altogether.

If you are looking for a wood flooring type for your home that is eco-friendly, you are not alone. Wood generally is highly popular in homes because of its distinguished, sophisticated look. This is a material that adds style as well as value to a home. When well-maintained, it may be enjoyed in a home for many decades. In addition, wood floors are generally considered more eco-friendly than manufactured materials, such as laminate, but some wood type is more green than others. When you are searching for the right wood flooring to install in your home, take time to carefully research the options so that you make a great decision for the environment. These are two of the most important factors to research before investing in a new wood floor for your home.

Consider the Wood Type
Wood type is one of the most important factors that affect how environmentally friendly a material is. Consider, for example, that both bamboo and cork are among the top green choices available in wood flooring toronto. Cork is a renewable resource, and the wood is harvested before the trees reach maturity. The trees are not destroyed during the harvesting process. In addition, the material may be recycled. This means it may be made from recycled materials, and it may be recycled after use in the home. Like cork, bamboo is also a renewable resource that can be recycled. It rapidly renews, and this is because bamboo is mature after just three years of growth. This type of wood also regenerates without the need for replanting. As you can see, some wood types are naturally a better option than others that do not have these characteristics.

Look for Industry Certifications
Another way to look for green flooring is to pay attention to the industry certifications that are linked to the product. There are several that you can search for, and these include certifications from the Forest Stewardship Council, the American Tree Farm System, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and the Scientific Certifications Systems. When wood flooring has one or more of these certifications, you can rest assured that the wood used in the flooring is derived from specially managed forests. This allows you to buy with confidence.

There are other green options to consider besides bamboo and cork, but these are among the most popular and common options available when choosing eco-friendly flooring. Eco-friendly hardwoods can be harvested in sustainable ways, and this means that how the trees are grown and harvested plays a critical role in how green the material is. By researching these points carefully before making a buying decision, you can more confidently purchase eco-friendly flooring for your home.

Wood is a popular flooring option because of its easy maintenance, durability, and unique beauty. Apart from providing a timeless visual appeal, you can also benefit from the long lasting quality of wood flooring with proper maintenance. Although they can be relatively expensive, the installation of wood floors often is a solid long term investment. Besides, you can always select a preferred variety by choosing from a broad range of wood species such as oak, maple, ash, and hickory. By deciding to install any wood flooring type, you are bound to enjoy the following benefits:

Easy to repair
You can quickly restore your wood flooring Toronto with a variety of finishes such as staining and sanding. Additionally, the different types of wood floor finishes currently available provide the advantage of unlimited options, especially if you would like to update the color of your floor. Scraping off the top layer exposes the grains anew, making it possible to polish the wood to a different finish. As opposed to replacing the entire floor, wood floors allow you to replace the worn out pieces only, which makes the repair work a lot easier and cheaper than other types of floor.

By providing several quick restoration and repair options, wood floors are a lot cheaper and simpler to replace compared to almost every other type of flooring material. The unrivaled variety, easy repair or replacement, endless finishing options, and relatively affordable pricing of this kind of floor provide a significant advantage if you are looking to restore, upgrade, or sell your home quickly and at a good price.

Enhance your indoor environment
Unlike most of the other flooring options, wood floors do not necessitate the addition of rugs and carpets to improve thermal comfort. As you may well know, carpets usually hold on to dirt, allergens, and dust particles, all of which have a negative impact on the health of your indoor environment. Since wood floors do not hide any particulate matter, they help in the creation of a healthy indoor environment free of potentially dangerous contaminants.

Authenticity
For starters, there is the issue of authenticity. Wood floors bear the authentic beauty and feel provided by nature, which are properties laminate floors cannot even come close to offering. Although scratches, especially the deep ones, can damage wood floors, sanding off the topmost layer and refinishing removes minor scratches quite easily and gives the floor a glossy appearance. Laminate floors resemble wood floors in appearance. However, laminates are comparatively cheaper upfront and not as easy to repair as wood floors.

The part resembling the surface of wood is actually a thin layer covering a series of compressed boards, which makes this type of floors a lot harder and more costly to repair or replace than wood flooring options. The repair of laminate floors involves removal of the affected planks before replacement with similar pieces.

Upfront, wood floors might cost more than the other conventional flooring types. However, apart from being easier and cheaper to maintain, wood floors are also quite durable and bear a unique and naturally aesthetic value.

Hardwood floors are known for their beautiful sheen, long life, and ease of cleaning. While they do not offer the cushioning of carpet, they are much more suitable for small children and pets, where cleanliness and stain resistance tends to be of the utmost importance. There are many kinds of hardwood flooring to choose from, and each one has its unique advantages and disadvantages.

Types of Hardwood Flooring
While many types of wood are used in hardwood floors, the primary difference is between engineered wood and solid wood. Solid wood is made by cutting and trimming the wood, then treating it with chemicals to prevent rot and reduce wear. Engineered wood, meanwhile, is made by cutting the wood into slats and then gluing them together to form the correct shape. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages, making each one a superior choice for specific situations.

Solid Wood Flooring
Solid wood flooring is seen as more traditional, and indeed it is preferred for older houses, especially those where the flooring is not made of concrete and the floor will need to fit and possibly help support and flex with the floor. Because the flooring is cut from solid pieces of wood, a form of warping known as “cupping” can be a problem, although this is mitigated by modern advances in design and various grooves, strips, and depressions that allow the wood to flex and bend without breaking or creating gaps. Additionally, solid wood flooring is simpler, which makes it both cheaper to purchase and easier to repair. This makes it a superior option for restoring older homes or when installing flooring on a budget, as it offers a lower cost option that is more “at home” with the sort of floors found in older homes.

Engineered Wood Flooring
Engineered wood flooring is made by gluing multiple slats of wood together to form a finished piece. Each layer has a grain running 90 degrees to the one above it, which produces a final wood product that does not warp. It is also much more rigid, enabling it both to support more weight and to handle a tighter fit. This makes it the only option when dealing with concrete or other very firm floors since traditional solid wood would need to “breathe” to prevent moisture accumulation. This stability has made engineered wood much more popular than traditional solid wood, although it is somewhat more expensive. It is also seen as less environmentally friendly, as more chemicals are required to produce engineered wood. Still, the fact that it does not warp and that it fits tighter while wearing less has made it the more widely used option in modern homes, and improvements in engineering have made it look every bit as good as traditional solid wood. There are more online resources available at Fuse Flooring.

The cleaning of wood flooring is relatively easy, and regular maintenance involves using a dry microfiber mop to dust or a soft bristle broom to sweep. Remove dust from between the boards using a vacuum cleaner after turning off the beater bar if your wood floor features beveled edges. Use a professional wood cleaning product, preferably one recommended by a wood flooring expert, to periodically clean your wood floor.

Wood floor maintenance schedule
The following is the recommended maintenance schedule for hardwood flooring nyc
• Sweep or dust mop on a daily basis
• Use the bare floor setting to vacuum clean on a weekly basis
• Clean on a monthly basis using a recommended wood flooring cleaner
• Apply a maintenance coat every 3-5 years
• Sand and refinish your wood flooring every decade

Adherence to the guidelines mentioned above helps to ensure your wood flooring looks and performs well for a long time. However, individual maintenance schedules vary depending on lifestyle, usage, wear, and tear.

Additional tips for the maintenance of wood floors
There are also several alternate steps that can help when it comes to the preservation of your wood floor’s beauty of including but not limited to:
• Refrain from using either tile or vinyl cleaning products on your wood floors regardless of the reason. Self-polishing acrylic waxes usually cause a slippery effect on wood and also result in the development of a dull appearance quickly.
• Place throw rugs at every doorway in your home to help in the prevention of scratches caused by debris, usually tracked in under shoe soles.
• Refrain from either wet-mopping or steam mopping your wood floor because both water and steam often result in the dulling of wood finishes and rotting of wood over time.
• Use a slightly damp clean cloth, preferably cotton, to wipe up spills immediately they occur.
• Make sure you do not over-wax your wood floor. You should, however, try buffing if you wax floor dulls. Although you should apply wax under your furniture and in light traffic areas every other waxing session, ensure wax does not build up in these particular areas.
• When it comes to preventing the scuffing and scratching caused by furniture, placing stick-on protectors under your furniture’s legs makes for the suitable and effective option. You should, however, replace the stick-on protectors often seeing as dirt and debris usually become embedded in the pad, eliminating the usefulness of the shield since it then acts in the same manner as sandpaper on the flooring surface.
• Avoid walking on your wood flooring while wearing either high heel shoes in disrepair or sports cleats. A woman weighing about 125 pounds wearing high heels that have an exposed heel nail exerts approximately 8,000 pounds per square inch when walking, which is enough to dent any flooring surface.
• Avoid sliding the heavy furniture on the surface of your wood floor when moving them. Picking up the furniture when moving it is the best way to prevent scratches.
• Use a humidifier during winter to minimize the development of gaps.